A processor in a computer must select what instruction to execute next. A common approach is to employ a program counter to sequence instructions and branch instructions that (often conditionally) modify the program counter. An approach to avoiding branch instructions is to have predicated instructions. When a predicated instruction is selected for execution, a boolean-valued condition (typically referred to as “predicate guard”) specified by the instruction is evaluated, and if that condition is false, the instruction's effects are nullified. Predicated instructions are still nominally sequenced, albeit possibly executed out of order subject to dependences. Sequencing determines nominally when to execute an instruction; the predicate determines whether the instruction's effects actually happen.